Potato chips or like goods are normally packaged in plastic or wax paper bags (soft-pack goods). These packages are generally made from solid sheets of plastic, which are sealed at the ends about the goods and lengthwise along the seam joining the end edges of the sheet as the bags are filled. The packages are then carried by a conveyor to a location for hand packing in a box. Each package inherently falls onto the conveyor in a position in which the seam faces upwardly and identifying indicia faces downwardly. Consequently, the packages must be inverted from face down to face up positions before being deposited in the box.
It is conventional practice to arrange the packages in two stacks with the packages in more or less end-to-end relation within the box, each stack ordinarily consisting of two or more layers. Heretofore, the packages of soft-pack goods have been inverted and then stacked by hand, which is a time-comsuming and expensive procedure.
It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically inverting and arranging soft-pack goods in two stacks within a box.
If it is desired to permit more than one box to be filled at a time for a high volume of work, the box packing machine does not have to be entirely duplicated. Rather, the above-mentioned apparatus for inverting and stacking the packages may be duplicated for each successive package along separate lines of travel by rearranging the single line of packages into two or more lines of side-by-side bags prior to delivery of the bags at the inverting and stacking station.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive method and apparatus for so rearranging a single line of successive packages automatically in response to their travel along the conveyor, and preferably rearranging the single line into three lines.
A further object is to provide a method and apparatus in which the successive packages from a plurality of lines are inverted and stacked into their respective boxes in unison with one another, and thus with a minimum of duplication of operating parts.
A still further object is to provide a method and apparatus having a simplified arrangement for moving one or more boxes into mounting positions for filling and then into successive mounting positions for additional preparation prior to wrapping of the boxes.
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, these and other objects are accomplished by means of method and apparatus in which conveying means is provided for moving the packages in a line of successive packages with all packages facing up or down. A support means is arranged for singly receiving successive ones of the packages from the conveying means. The support means is rotated approximately 180.degree. in opposite directions when successive packages are received thereon so as to invert and permit alternate ones of said packages to fall onto two respective stack sites in the box. More particularly, the method contemplates and the apparatus makes it possible to continue to singly receive successive ones of the packages on the support means and to alternatively rotate the support means in opposite directions to invert and stack additional packages one above the other at each stack site.
Preferably, the support means has support surfaces on its opposite sites, so that the first package is received on one of the support surfaces in a first rotative position of the support means, the second package is received on the other support surface in a second rotative position of the support means, and the support means is rotatable between such first and second rotative positions. More particularly, the support means is preferably rotated about an axis transverse to the line of movement of the packages.
When two or more boxes are to be filled with packages, means are also provided for shifting one package of the first-mentioned line laterally into a second line of movement, and braking the movement of the one package until a successive package in the first-mentioned line has moved into a position to one side of the one package, whereby successive side-by-side packages in the two lines may be singly received by side-by-side portions of the support means, so that such portions may be operated simultaneously for depositing two stacks of packages into each of side-by-side positions beneath the support means.
It is also preferred that empty boxes be moved on a conveyor in a line transverse to the line of successive packages so as to sequentially dispose successive boxes on one side of the box to be filled, and the unfilled box is pushed, when so disposed, into a filling position beneath the support means. When it is so pushed, the unfilled box engages the filled box beneath the support means to move it to a position in which the packages stacked therein may be dressed. The preferred method and apparatus further contemplates that the packages in a filled box may be dressed by suitable means when disposed in the position for same, the dressed box being engaged by the filled box to move it to another station as the filled box is moved by the empty box into a position for dressing.
In accordance with the invention, a method and apparatus for depositing packages of soft-pack goods in a selected arrangement in a box is provided. The apparatus includes a conveying means and the method has a step for moving successive packages in a line with all of the packages facing up or down. Support means singly receives successive ones of the packages. The support means is alternatively rotated through 180.degree. in opposite directions to flip the packages onto two respective stack sites in the box thereby inverting the packages while depositing them in the box.